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Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

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Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#131

Post by Johnny555 »

jimmaswell wrote: post #114
rawtxapp wrote: post #22

I've never been able to cancel any subscription with ease, so nowadays I always use Privacy to get temporary credit cards. When I want the subscription cancelled, I try the provider's website, if it doesn't work, I just cancel the card all together.

This sounds like some kind of fraud, or at least an easy way to tank your credit and get debt collectors after you if caught. For what it's worth I've never had trouble canceling anything I've subscribed to.

What kind of fraud does it sound like? I gave my credit card to the merchant and said they could charge it for auto-renew, but that doesn't seem to put me under any obligation to make sure the card is still valid next year - credit cards expire or get canceled all the time. The merchant is free to cancel the subscription if the auto-renew fails.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#132

Post by xxxtentachyon »

jcims wrote: post #108
Theory5 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened to me with audible. They didn't have the cancel subscription on the app. Had to hunt for it on the site. Was asked if i was suuuuuuure i wanted to leave, 3 separate times before it canceled. Definitely not thinking of doing that again, or like i do for some streaming services, pay for a couple months, stop, then pay for a few more. Utterly rediculous.

The other issue with audible cancellation is that you throw away your credits...but then if you try to spend 5-10 credits quickly it becomes challenging...so you don't cancel. lol

They say this, but your credits aren’t actually thrown away immediately (at least they weren’t in 2018 or thereabouts). I learned this by ending up in exactly the position you describe - trying to get rid of credits before canceling - except I gave up with one or two left. To my surprise, they were still there once I was done canceling.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#134

Post by rthomas6 »

frading wrote: post #14

This reminds me of the French newspaper lemonde.fr, which I had subscribed to, and then wanted to unsubscribe after a couple months. There was simply no way to do so online, not to reach any customer support. The only option was to send a letter via post. This was during our first lockdown in UK, so no way I would go to the post office for that. I'll simply never be a customer again.

Can people in the UK not send outgoing letters by putting them in their mailbox and raising the little outgoing mail flag? Is that a uniquely American thing?

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#135

Post by rawtxapp »

jimmaswell wrote: post #114
rawtxapp wrote: post #22

I've never been able to cancel any subscription with ease, so nowadays I always use Privacy to get temporary credit cards. When I want the subscription cancelled, I try the provider's website, if it doesn't work, I just cancel the card all together.

This sounds like some kind of fraud, or at least an easy way to tank your credit and get debt collectors after you if caught. For what it's worth I've never had trouble canceling anything I've subscribed to.

Why would it be fraud? I paid for the service when I used it, if the business makes it impossible to cancel a subscription or makes you go through endless hoops to waste your time, that's on them. After I stop paying for it, they'll just stop providing me the service.

If you signed a contract for X amount of months, then I get it, you have to pay, but I always do month to month at the gym, they still make it impossible to cancel.

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#136

Post by jcims »

xxxtentachyon wrote: post #132
jcims wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other issue with audible cancellation is that you throw away your credits...but then if you try to spend 5-10 credits quickly it becomes challenging...so you don't cancel. lol

They say this, but your credits aren’t actually thrown away immediately (at least they weren’t in 2018 or thereabouts). I learned this by ending up in exactly the position you describe - trying to get rid of credits before canceling - except I gave up with one or two left. To my surprise, they were still there once I was done canceling.

This is excellent info thank you!

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#137

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

astura wrote: post #129
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #118

I didn't have to speak to anyone to cancel mine through the web interface. Did that just last week so this info is not out of date. I'm not sure how you got to speaking to an agent in the first place.

Do you live in California? Because apparently some services have a California-only web interface to unsubscribe. If your billing address isn't in California then you can't access that page. Because of a California law that says they must. https://www.cnet.com/news/companies-must-let-customers-cance...

NYC

Re: Before buying a NYT subscription, here's what it'll take to cancel it

#139

Post by astura »

e-clinton wrote: post #125
hda2 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call this generosity. This is the normal conduct of normal honest businesses.

Normal? What other business does that? I can’t think of one.

Banks and credit cards cancel inactive accounts.
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